Tallstar's Revenge (23 page)

Dawnstripe lashed her tail. “No one killed Sandgorse!”

“You're hare-brained!” Shrewpaw snarled. “You're an embarrassment to WindClan with your dumb accusations! Nobody likes you. You
should
be underground! We won't miss you.”

Blood roared in Tallpaw's ears. He lunged for Shrewpaw. Sinking his claws deep into his shoulders, he rolled the apprentice onto the soaking grass. Shrewpaw yowled, scrabbling at Tallpaw's belly with his hind claws. Tallpaw raked his denmate's muzzle, sending blood spraying across the grass before jaws closed around his neck fur and hauled him off. As Dawnstripe dropped him, Tallpaw shook out his pelt. Hareflight was holding Shrewpaw back by the scruff.

“Tallpaw!” Dawnstripe's eyes were round with shock. “You can't attack your Clanmate! No matter how he provokes you!” She pointed her muzzle toward the sheep. “Go and use up the rest of your anger collecting wool for the elders.”

Tallpaw stomped away, his pelt spiking as rain lashed it. His belly churned. Shrewpaw's words rang in his ears.

Nobody likes you. We won't miss you.

C
HAPTER
21

Tallpaw shivered. The wind, which was
whipping the moor, carried the chill of coming leaf-fall. While the Clan moved restlessly around him, he stared across the valley toward Highstones. Below him, the trees in the fields had turned as mottled as a tortoiseshell's pelt, with flashes of orange and gold among the fading green leaves.

“Are you coming to say good-bye?” Dawnstripe called to him above the noise of the wind.

Tallpaw looked past her to the rogues lined along the ridge. They were leaving at last. In the two moons since Sandgorse's death, Tallpaw had hardly been able to bear looking at them. Watching his Clanmates treat them as though nothing had happened—as though Sandgorse were still alive—soured every mouthful of prey. How could his Clan be so unfeeling?

“Come on,” Dawnstripe urged. “Heatherstar expects WindClan apprentices to show courtesy to our guests.”

Tallpaw's tail twitched. “All right, I'm coming.” He followed Dawnstripe across the grass, passing Appledawn and Hickorynose. They had already said their farewells. Meadowslip had stayed in camp with her kits.

The elders were touching noses with the rogues. Lilywhisker leaned forward and pressed her muzzle to Bess's. “Take care,” she rasped. “I hope leaf-bare treats you well.”

“Good-bye, Sparrow.” Flamepelt dipped his head. “Good hunting.”

Mole lifted his tail. “Thanks for sharing your den.”

Lilywhisker's eyes misted. “We'll miss your stories.”

Shrewpaw slid past Tallpaw and stopped in front of Reena. “You were a great denmate.”

Reena's eyes glowed. “So you didn't mind sharing with a rogue after all?”

Shrewpaw dropped his gaze. “Sorry if I was a bit unfriendly at the start.”

Reena winked. “You're forgiven.”

Fur ruffling self-consciously, Shrewpaw hurried back to Hareflight's side.

Heatherstar padded forward with Reedfeather beside her. “WindClan wishes you well.” She looked expectantly at Tallpaw. He was the only cat who hadn't exchanged words with the rogues.

“I hope you find somewhere to stay,” Tallpaw meowed stiffly.
And that you never come back.

Heatherstar seemed satisfied. She turned to Sparrow. “The WindClan that you've known for countless moons is on the edge of great change.” She glanced at Hickorynose and Woollytail standing side by side with Mistmouse and Plumclaw. “If you come again, you'll find a Clan no longer divided into moor runners and tunnelers, but united as warriors, as strong as any Clan.”

Tallpaw pricked his ears.
If you come again?
Heatherstar had said
if.
Perhaps there wasn't room for visiting rogues anymore. Tallpaw waited for Sparrow's answer. Was he going to mention Sandgorse? Surely the rogue would acknowledge the cat who'd died so that he could look at WindClan's tunnels?

Sparrow dipped his head. “I wish you all well.”

Was that it? Tallpaw stared at him in disbelief. It was as though Sandgorse had never existed at all.

Algernon stepped forward, purring. “Thanks for your kindness.”

Bess whisked her tail. “Let's hope cold-season is kind to us all.” She turned and began to head downslope. Sparrow followed, Mole and Algernon at his heels. Reena bounded after her mother and fell in beside her.

Lilywhisker sighed. “Sparrow was a great hunter.” She eyed Tallpaw and Shrewpaw pointedly. “He
always
made sure the elders and queens had something to eat.”

“We won't let you go hungry,” Tallpaw growled. He watched the rogues move over the grass below. Who knew where they were heading? They were already fading to specks as they neared the Thunderpath.

The wind pulled at Tallpaw as though it wanted to whisk him after them. He dug his claws into the grass.
This is my home.
He focused on the rogues again. Sparrow's fur was a dark smudge against the grass. Rage surged in Tallpaw's belly.
How can you just leave?
Sparrow would carry on with his life, unremorseful and unpunished while Tallpaw was left alone. Tallpaw fought to stop his pelt from bristling.
Because of you, Heatherstar closed the tunnels. I can never follow in my father's paw steps or live the life he wanted me to live. You killed him; then you destroyed his dream and mine.

“Tallpaw?” Doespring's gentle mew jerked him back.

“What?” He shook out his pelt, suddenly realizing the grass at his feet was shredded. He sheathed his claws quickly.

“We're leaving.” Doespring tipped her head toward their Clanmates. They were moving steadily across the moor like birds crossing the sky. Heatherstar headed the flock, Reedfeather at her side. Woollytail kept close to Palebird, their pelts brushing from time to time as they padded over the grass. Tallpaw narrowed his eyes. His father's old tunnel-mate never seemed to leave Palebird alone now. He'd have to make sure that his mother didn't mind.

“Come on!” Doespring bounded away.

Tallpaw plunged after her, his paws thrumming the earth. He slowed as he neared his Clanmates, not quite catching up while Doespring weaved among them and fell in beside Stagleap and Ryestalk.

He'd be a warrior soon, then a senior warrior like Hareflight. One day he'd be an elder, limping like Whiteberry and sharing stories from moons ago with his denmates. Above the vast sky stretched toward distant horizon. The Clan looked small and fragile beneath it. Was this it? His life laid out before him like an old story, told again and again through countless moons?

Tallpaw's chest tightened. Suddenly he felt trapped, as though he were in the tunnels once again.

“Tallpaw!” Dawnstripe called from ahead. “Let's hunt!” She veered away from her Clanmates, doubling back upslope. “I'll race you to Outlook Rock!”

Tallpaw hared after her, running faster than the wind, desperate to escape the anxiety that beat inside him on frantic wings.

 

Tallpaw plunged through the gap in the heather and skidded to a halt in the clearing. Flanks heaving, he glanced over his shoulder as Shrewpaw burst through after him. Tallpaw flicked his tail.
I beat you.

“I stumbled on a rabbit hole,” Shrewpaw panted.

“Shame.” Tallpaw headed for the prey heap. He'd been training all day and his belly was growling.

Lilywhisker and Flailfoot lay outside the elders' den, basking in the dying sun. With leaf-fall coming, its warmth was fading. Lilywhisker sighed wistfully. “I wonder where Bess and Algernon are now?”

“The den's too quiet without Mole's snoring,” Flailfoot commented.

“I hope they've found a warm place to shelter,” Lilywhisker fretted.

The rogues had been gone for days, but the Clan kept chattering like birds, worrying where they were and how they'd find enough prey now that the weather was turning.

“I miss Reena,” Shrewpaw declared, stopping beside Lilywhisker.

Lilywhisker looked up at the apprentice. “She'd make a good warrior with the right training.”

Shrewpaw gazed at the moor that loomed up beyond the heather walls. “But she'd never give up traveling.”

Frowning, Tallpaw hopped over the tussocks. Reena would never give up eating other cats' prey, or sleeping in nests that other paws had woven.
That
would be too much like hard work. He dragged a rabbit from the prey heap and carried it to a soft tussock beside the bracken patch. He liked to eat here. Sandgorse's nest still carried his scent—stale now, but familiar.

As he took a mouthful, he saw Dawnstripe and Hareflight pad into camp. They nodded to each other as they parted at the entrance.

“Tallpaw.” Dawnstripe headed toward him. “Your battle moves were lazy today. What's up?”

Tallpaw stared at her, his mouth full. “Nothing.”

“Really?” Dawnstripe narrowed her eyes. “You seemed to be thinking about something else. You have been for days. With your assessment coming up, you really should be concentrating on your warrior skills.”

Tallpaw swallowed. “I'll try harder,” he promised. What did it matter? His Clan would go on with or without him, just as it had done with Sandgorse.

A thought flashed in his mind.
We're just visitors, like the rogues. We arrive, we eat, we sleep, and then we move on to StarClan.
The only difference was that Clan cats stayed in one place their whole life.
I'll only ever see heather and grass and sky.
Tallpaw felt WindClan's borders pressing closer.

“Well?”

Tallpaw suddenly realized that Dawnstripe was staring expectantly at him. He'd been so lost in thought that he'd missed something. “What?”

“The Moonstone,” she meowed, exasperated. “Aren't you excited?”

Tallpaw pricked his ears. “Are we going?”

“I just told you!” Dawnstripe's tail twitched. “We're going tonight. Finish your meal quickly and go to Hawkheart to get traveling herbs.”

Tallpaw nodded, feeling hope spark deep inside him. He was going to see something new after all!

In the medicine den, his belly full, he peered around the scooped-out cave. The screen of gorse on the open side made it very dark, and the jumbled scent of herbs made Tallpaw's nose wrinkle. How could Barkpaw smell
anything
after living in here?

“They're beside the grinding stone.”

Hawkheart's mew made him jump. He hadn't spotted the medicine cat standing in the shadows. Hawkheart padded across the sandy floor, tipping his nose toward leaves heaped beside a smooth, wide stone at the side of the gorse cave. There were two piles.

“Do I eat them both?” Tallpaw asked.

“You can if you want,” Hawkheart grunted. “But I wouldn't if I were you. They taste foul and Shrewpaw might be annoyed that you'd eaten his.”

Tallpaw's heart sank as Shrewpaw slid into the den, his dark brown pelt hardly visible in the gloom. He spotted Tallpaw and rolled his eyes. “Oh no, you're not coming to the Moonstone, are you?”

Tallpaw stepped closer, fluffing out his fur. “So what if I am?” he growled.

Hawkheart pushed between them. “One day you're going to need to start behaving like Clanmates,” he snorted.

Tallpaw scowled. It wasn't his fault that Shrewpaw was so mean.

Hawkheart pawed a pile of herbs toward him, and pushed the other heap under Shrewpaw's nose. “Eat,” he muttered, and padded from the den.

Shrewpaw screwed up his eyes as he sniffed the leaves. “They smell foul.”

Tallpaw dabbed his tongue into the herbs. The bitter flavor made him wince, but he wasn't going to let Shrewpaw see him make a fuss. He lapped them up and swallowed them quickly, trying not to let his disgust show. “Easy,” he mewed, and headed out of the den.

Barkpaw met him outside. “Did you swallow them?” His eyes were round.

Tallpaw wrinkled his nose and nodded.

“Once the taste has gone you'll be thankful for them,” Barkpaw promised. “It's a long journey and they'll give you energy.”

Dawnstripe and Hareflight were pacing by the entrance.

“I'd better go,” Tallpaw mewed.

“Try to remember everything,” Barkpaw warned. “It will feel like a dream, but I promise, it's all real.”

“I'll try.” Tallpaw bounded over the tussocks and stopped beside Dawnstripe. “How long will it take to travel there?”

Dawnstripe glanced at the sun dipping toward the horizon. “We have to reach Mothermouth by moonhigh.” She glanced toward the medicine den, nodding as she saw Shrewpaw heading out. “Ready?”

Tallpaw nodded. As the bitterness of the herbs faded, he felt excitement spark in his belly. He was leaving Clan territory. He was going to share tongues with StarClan!

Outside the camp, Dawnstripe stopped. “The most dangerous part of the journey will be the Thunderpath,” she warned. “Do as you're told.” She caught Shrewpaw's eye as he emerged from the entrance tunnel. “And no bickering. I expect you to behave like warriors tonight.” Without waiting for an answer, she pushed through the heather and led the way upslope.